MS269
Ethiopian manuscripts
The manuscripts included in this collection were donated to Randall Library in September 2004 by Sara Fussell Messer, an alumni of Wilmington College. They were found by a family member behind a heating duct in his New Orleans apartment during the 1960's. No owner could be located and they have been in the family since that time.  They are written in Ethopic Ge'ez, a Semitic language that is no longer spoken, but still used in liturgical writing by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. The interpretations of the images were derived from David Appleyard's Ethiopian Manuscripts (London, Jed Press, 1993) and Jacques Mercier's Ethiopian Magic Scrolls (George Braziller,1879). The manuscripts have yet to be fully analyzed.

There are no access restrictions on the use of this collection.

Manuscripts Collection
William Madison Randall Library
University of North Carolina at Wilmington

Inventory
MS/box/file

Click on picture for larger view.

Box 1
Scroll 198 x 9 cm.
 Scroll of three vellum panels sewn together, with illustrations of a cherub or angle, a face in an eight-pointed star, and a scribe, interspersed with text in black and red ink, with additional text on verso

           
     Scroll                  Text                  Face                  Scribe         Cherub or Angle Fragment
Box 2
Scroll 152 x 8 cm.
 Scroll of two vellum panels sewn together, possibly missing a third panel, with illustrations of a face and a processional cross, interspersed with text in black, red and blue ink, with additional text on verso

     
    Scroll                   Face                Text 



Box 3
Book 15 cm.
 Possibly a New Testament Bible, this book has wooden bindings with parchment leaves. Both the front and back covers have been broken and repaired with thread similar to the bindings. The spine is covered in leather but the binding is visible. The text is in two columns in black and red ink.

       
   Front               Text                    Spine

 

Box 4
Book 15 cm.
 This book is possibly a prayer book. It has tooled leather covered boards on the front and back.  Plain leather covers the spine. The leaves are parchment with text in either one or two columns in black and red ink

     
      Front                 Text                 Spine

 

Box 5
Addition One
Book 13 cm.
 This book has wooden boards on front and back, the spine is uncovered. It contains parchment leaves with text written in black and red ink in either one or two columns. Some of the ink is faded and appears to be purple and orange. This book was donated to Wilmington College during the late 1960's.

     
      Front                 Text                 Spine